Almost perfect

18.09.2014

ELMS round 4 brought by far the best results to #98 – second in qualification and third in the race

Kevin with his team-mates Grégoire Demoustier and Yann Goudy
had almost perfect race at ELMS round four at Paul Ricard. First, Kevin took P2
in the qualification on the track where top speed is king. Then Yann and Grégoire
drove good stints, team serviced the car flawlessly during the pit-stops and when Kevin took the
wheel with 50 minutes to go, he was P4, with P3 car about 10 seconds in front. Kevin
caught him quite rapidly but overtaking Ferrari proved to be a very different
kind of beast. Finally Kevin made an ambitious move into the ultra-fast Signes
bend, kept the car under control and first podium in ELMS was a reality. And you can't get over the fact that #98 McLaren was the only non-Ferrari in Top 6.

This is how Kevin himself saw the events roll by.

Can we say now that
finally you managed to realize your potential also in ELMS?

Absolutely! With the regulations we have there we lose 15
seconds to Ferraris during every refueling – not during the full pit-stop, but
only during the refueling. Having four pit-stops means we lose a full minute
only with refueling.

Let's be honest: we were a little bit lucky this time
because the #71 Ferrari which finished just behind us had puncture,
drive-through penalty plus extra pit-stop due to the puncture – and still they
got the flag only two seconds later.

They were P5 with a
few laps to go, then they went P4 and got closer and closer towards the end.
Did you know they were coming?

Actually, they didn't get closer. From the beginning of my
stint until the time I caught #95 Ferrari in P3, the gap remained
the same. It was very difficult for me to overtake #95 because our car is
slower down the straights and loses under acceleration as well. They can simply
block you in the turn and pull away when straight begins. To overtake them you
have to brake really late or surprise them in some other way.

You managed to
overtake #95 into Signes, an extremely fast right-hand bend at the end of back
straight. Is it full-throttle bend for you?

No, we brake and shift down as well. It was a tricky one, I
tried to catch his tow down the whole two-kilometer straight, but still couldn't
get closer than one tenth. And usually no-one, never overtakes through the
inside at Signes, because there is lots of marbles off the racing line. So I
thought: "OK, we have only something like four laps to go, #71 is getting
closer, now I must overtake him, if I don't, I can't get onto the podium." I took the risk and succeeded, but this was a really risky move. I
was almost sure car will go wide or something but it slowed down and stayed on the
track.

Your team-mates made
almost perfect stints and car stayed in one piece as well.

Yes, no-one made a single mistake, it was mega-positive.

You managed to do
some sub-two minutes laps, was there a chance to do the fastest lap?

I guess this time I had a fourth-best lap-time or something.
1:58.8 was the best one, I did 1:59.3 on my first or second flying lap.

In Paul Ricard you
achieved almost maximum but what can you expect from the final ELMS round?

As we can see, we have had four rounds and BoP has not been
helpful for us. This time I guess we lost about a minute to the winners
(actually it was 1.25) and if you deduct four times 15 seconds we lose during
refueling... Everything went mega-perfect for us this time and others were not
that perfect, so we could have even won. But refueling has been like this from
the beginning of the season and when it has stayed so for four races it is not
likely going to change.

You managed to take
P2 in qualifying, it was a magnificent achievement taking BoP into account.

It was definitely the best qualification I have had. In
Austria there were no such long straights, gaps were smaller and I was still
second. This time I beat our another car #99 by a full second, it was rather
good.

Did you get the tow
down the straights?

No I didn't. Actually you don't gain that much in the
slipstream, maybe a tenth. I was on my own and just put a good lap together.

Have you noticed you
are P5 with your team-mates in points standings? And #99 is P4 with only three
more points.

Ha-ha, I haven't look at the standings. I knew we
were P8 or something before the race. But definitely we have nothing to win in
these series, I just try to drive as well as I can and achieve as good
positions as possible in qualification. Two successive second places are not bad.

Let's say I already want to drive! We have a very good team
of drivers, Kévin Estre will perhaps
qualify the car as he has driven about 2000 laps at the track.
Main concern is the weather, I hope it will be dry. We have had one wet
practice day at Silverstone and Audis beat us by a few seconds per lap there.
But it can always rain at Nürburgring.

Then, we should be able to win there, if only we will have a
good BoP.

You have also won
there before.

Yeah, but not with a GT car. Compared to a single-seater it
is a little bit different everywhere. On the other hand I know the track well
and I have no doubt my team-mates will perform strongly. Just BoP and
weather...